Chris Dhambarage
Last year he made a dream debut in First XI cricket scoring over five hundred runs and eventually ending up as the Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer in the Nation/Rivira Cricket Stars Contest.Now in his second year at De Mazenod College, Kandana, seventeen-year old Kavinda Milan Manamperi is turning out to be one of the prolific run getters in the ongoing inter school Under 19 cricket tournament.
Last week the stylish right hand middle order batsman came out with a splendid batting performance to compile an unbeaten century in a high profile tournament fixture against St. Joseph’s College at Kandana. “This was probably one of my best innings in First XI cricket considering the amount of pressure and the situation I was up against at that stage”, said the former schoolboy of Isipathana College.
“Our wicket has been usually a batting friendly track but still there were some assistance to the opposition bowlers as there had been plenty of overnight rain and the spinners were getting a bit of turn as well”. “I was under some kind of pressure to build up the first innings when I walked into bat because we were thinking of posting a total of above 250 runs at the beginning before putting the opposition in”.
“I was pleased to have one of our senior players of the team Jude Malshan as my partner during a century partnership and his words of encouragement really inspired me to reach the three figure mark for the first time this season”. In fact the situation was tailor made for Kavinda Manamperi to pile up a big score after bad weather had ruined most of his opportunities in the rain affected matches against Holy Cross College, Kalutara, Nalanda College and Lumbini MV.
But he was able to grab the opportunity and get the maximum from the situation as De Mazenod College went on to produce their best ever batting performance this season while piling up a formidable 291 for 8 in the first innings.In fact Manamperi took a bold decision to join De Mazenod College last year after having played most of his junior cricket at Isipathana College and having learnt the basics of the game at Ragama Cricket Club under the guidance of first coach Sanjeewa Mendis.
“I decided to shift to De Mazenod College on consultation with my parents and coaches because it is very convenient for me to travel to Kandana from my home town Ragama”.“Now I believe that I have made the right decision in my career as I have plenty of time for practices and to continue in cricket and to spend time for my studies as well which are also vital for a schoolboy”.
Kavinda Manamperi of course had his early education at the Narangodapaluwa Primary School in Batuwatta, Ragama and had the opportunity of attending the Ragama Cricket Club Academy at the age of 12. He then moved to Isipathana College from grade six through a scholarship and began to further enhance his cricketing talent while representing the school in the under 13 and under 15 division one tournaments.
In fact he captured a total of 38 wickets in his Under 13 debut and was able to spearhead the team into the semifinals. In the under 15 tournament he excelled as an all rounder while scoring over 270 runs and capturing over 25 wickets. Even then last year he could not prove his true potential and managed to score only one century against Holy Cross College, Kalutara and two other half centuries in the inter school under 19 cricket tournament. But with more responsibilities falling on his shoulders as one of the senior players in the team Kavinda Manamperi is looking forward towards completing a highly successful season and to emerge as one of the top run getters in the tournament.
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